For the past 20 years Akiima has worked with numerous environmental organizations throughout the United States, including the The New York Restoration Project and the North American Association for Environmental Education, creating and implementing innovative programs that build bridges into low-income communities. One of her earliest experiences was as a National Park Service Interpretation Ranger at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Boulder City, Nevada in 1994. It was there that she discovered her passion and awareness of nature as a powerful medium to engage youth and families in meaningful, positive experiences that can affect the way they feel about themselves, their communities, and their place on earth.

Akiima is one of the leading African-American environmental educators in the country, helping to bring more capacity and inclusion to the field. She is currently working through Cornell University helping run the EECapacity Project, the national environmental education training program of the EPA. Through her work on the project she is developing a national platform for emerging environmental educators and developing cutting edge guidelines for an emerging practice called Community Environmental Education. Her specialty is engaging as a bridge builder between people and resources and developing thoughtful curricula and education materials that consider community wellness issues.